Page 33 of Breaking the Ice
“You want me to take her money and yours?” I see a little wheel turning in her head as she tries to compute what she could do with that kind of money.
“You’d be doing me a great favor,” I tell her. “I was thinking earlier about asking you to pretend to be Yolanda’s friend to get information, but I didn’t think you’d go for it.”
“Sixty thousand dollars is more than I make in a year.” She’s so adorably flustered it’s all I can do not to wrap my arms around her.
“Does that mean you’ll do it?”
“I don’t know … I mean … it’s just that …” Her poor brain is under assault by all the possibilities. “I’ll do it,” she finally concedes.
“Good,” I tell her. “I’ll pay you up front so you can start helping your mom with things she might need. I suggest you get Yolanda to do the same.”
“She’d be stupid to give me that kind of money up front. So would you,” Ellie reluctantly says.
“Yolanda is desperate,” I tell her. “And for some reason she really wants to take me down. I think she’ll hand over the money without a second thought.”
“Why would you trust me?”
“You’re a good person,” I tell her. “And I have great instincts about people. Also, my brother thinks the world of you, so I know you’re a safe bet.”
As much as I came to Maple Falls with the sole goal of repairing my reputation, I’m starting to realize there might be another gift to being here. And I’m looking right at her.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Ellie
The ER doctor pushes the curtain surrounding my mom’s bed to the side before announcing, “The CT scan came back inconclusive. As such, I’d like to keep her overnight to rule out the possibility of stroke.” I immediately start to panic. I never considered she might have had a stroke.
Lying on her makeshift bed, my mom tells me, “Go home. I’ll be fine.”
“I don’t want to go home.”
“Don’t you have lessons today?” she asks.
Shaking my head, I tell her, “The rink is closed today and tomorrow to get ready for the press conference tomorrow.”
My mom shifts her attention to the doctor. “You’ll call my daughter if you have any concerns, won’t you?”
“Of course,” she says. “We’re keeping you out of an abundance of precaution. We can also help you get around easier here.” She smiles at me. “I promise your mom is in great hands and we’ll alert you if anything suspicious comes up.”
I’m about to tell them that I’m going to stay and nothing they can say will change my mind, when Zach nudges me. He whispers, “We can use the time to get things ready for when your mom comes home.”
That’s all the encouragement I need. “Fine, Mom, but only if you promise not to be a hero and will call me for any reason. Even if you just want me to make you a sandwich.”
Her eyes droop. “I promise. Now, get going.”
As Zach and I walk out of the room, I tell him, “I don’t like this. I should stay.”
“Let’s see what changes we can make to your house that will help your mom.”
“I already have a bar on her bed. She has a walker and a lift chair. What more can I do?”
“Is there a shower handle?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“Is there a toilet seat lift?”
“I didn’t even know those were a thing.” I briefly wonder if Mom’s fall might have been avoided had she not had as far to sit down.